Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Coffee will always be one of those things where there will be people on either end of the spectrum. There are people that scoff at it, those who like it, more that love it... as well as a subset of that last group that might be tempted to take some sort of action if you told them that they couldn't have their daily cup(s).

If you had asked me two years ago which category I fell into, I probably would have shrugged. Sure, I had tried coffee before, but I just never seemed to really get what the big deal was.

Fast-forward to today and I wouldn't call myself a coffee fanatic, per se, but it's just a better situation for everyone involved if I can wake up enjoying my steaming mug. If it happens to be in a quiet room while sitting in a comfortable chair positioned in the sunshine, all the better.

However, since that doesn't often happen, I'll settle for just ensuring that my coffee is made the way that I like it. Forget black coffee, I need the addition of the rich flavor of delicious creamer to sweeten up my morning cup. Most recently, that has been happening perfectly thanks to the new Coffee-Mate Natural Bliss.

Mmm, #NaturalBlissWM!

While I have never been loyal to one particular coffee creamer before, my interest was peaked when I heard that Coffee-Mate had created a natural creamer. Whenever I can end up with great taste while avoiding any unnecessary ingredients, I consider that a winning combination.

And Natural Bliss creamer? It's just about as simple as you can get with only four natural ingredients: milk, cream, sugar and natural flavor. That's it! No matter which of the three delicious flavors you choose, the lightly flavored taste is just the right complement to your coffee.

What more could I ask for?

Picking out a time when both of my girls were in preschool (yes, it's a luxury to shop alone), I took a trip over to our local Walmart to pick up a bottle of Natural Bliss. After all, what better way to enjoy my few free moments than by shopping for an item that would make my mornings even better?

It should have been a clear instance of foreshadowing when I arrived to find that Walmart didn't even say Walmart on the front of the building. What in the world?

As I didn't want to spend any more of my alone time at the store than I had to, I went straight over to the Food section of the store to find that it was indeed under construction.

While I appreciate that the end result will be a Walmart with an convenient little grocery area included...

...in the meantime, I found myself frustrated. Because while under the construction, there were quite a few aisles that looked pretty bare.

Heading down the Dairy aisle, I crossed my fingers that I would see the crisp white top of the Natural Bliss creamer. Twenty steps later I was standing in front of the one small cooler of creamers and, while the selection of Coffee-Mate creamers was quite decent, it appeared that I wouldn't be enjoying any natural coffee creamer here.

Taking a few laps up and down each of the cooler aisles, it was fairly evident that now just wasn't the time to shop for food. Fortunately, I knew that we would be driving by a Walmart Supercenter in a few days, so I headed out to enjoy my last few moments of peace and quiet before having to return to pick up the girls from school.

Sure enough, that weekend we made sure to add a Walmart stop to our to-do list... and I already felt positive about our chances of finding Coffee-Mate Natural Bliss simply because there were no outward signs of construction as we were pulling in. Hey, it even said Walmart on the building!

Leaving my husband and Little Sister B to fill our cart with a few grocery staples, Big Sister E and I headed straight for the sign indicating Dairy in the back of the store.

As we rounded the corner, I spotted the coffee creamers right away but not the signature white top of the Natural Bliss quite yet.

Alas, I should never doubt my Walmart Supercenter. It always manages to come through for me!

While I would have liked to try the Caramel flavor (that's one coffee creamer flavor that I have yet to taste), I found my options were between the Vanilla and Sweet Cream.

Kicking myself for not printing out the Walmart coupon to save $1 on 2 Coffee-Mate Natural Bliss creamers so that I wouldn't feel guilty about buying them both, I decided to stick with my favorite creamer flavor, Vanilla. You just can't go wrong with a classic!

Knowing that it was time to head home, Big Sister E and I met back up with our shopping cohorts and we headed up to the register to making our healthy purchases.

Now that I've gotten my Coffee-Mate Natural Bliss creamer home, the upcoming week will be my taste test to see how it compares with previous creamers that I've tried. Whether or not it will lead to more time to relax and enjoy my coffee in the morning is still yet to be seen, but check back in a week for my overall thoughts!

Want to try switching out your usual creamer for Coffee-Mate Natural Bliss? Visit their website to find out more about this new creamer and the four (four!) natural ingredients that it includes. You'll also want to connect with them on Facebook as well as print off that money-saving coupon so that when you head to Walmart, you'll be more prepared than me!

Now. Who's ready for a second cup?

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias, but all thoughts and opinions are honest and my own. #CBias

I used to be that type of person who shrugged then I discovered Coffee-Mate Amaretto creamer and that was the only creamer I would even think to grace my cup until I tried the caramel Natural Bliss...Love it;)